Deal lets workers harvest apples

A problem with the H-2A program, preventing apple growers in Wayne County and western New York from using Jamaican migrant workers to harvest their crops, was worked out recently.

James Allen, executive director of the New York Apple Association, said the Obama administration disapproved of the Jamaican government taking a percentage of the Jamaican workers’ wages through the program.

As a result, the U.S. government refused to approve certification applications from apple growers and other farmers in New York and New England who requested Jamaican workers.

“It was early in the apple harvest and a lot of labor was being held up,” Allen said. “Finally, Congress and the Senate leadership took the lead and put pressure on the U.S. customs people to expedite these applications.”

Late last month, Allen received word the Jamaican and U.S. governments agreed to a one-year deal temporarily solving the issue. Applications were approved and the Jamaican workers were allowed to fly to New York to pick apples. He said a final solution to the disagreement will have to be worked out before next year.

Allen said most apple growers along Lake Ontario from Wayne County to western New York hire Jamaican workers exclusively. Jamaicans also are hired at vegetable farms.